Bloodheir

by Brian Ruckley

  Magrayn glanced up at the ceiling. Her disfigured lips moved as she silently counted off names.

  “Thirteen,” she said after a moment or two.

  “Good, good. That should ensure a multitude of cut purses and lightened pockets. Do go and see if those lemon tarts have arrived yet, if you’d be so kind. I find my desire for them so distracting.”

  Magrayn left. Torquentine’s gaze rested upon the door long after it had closed behind her. He swallowed a mouthful of air and belched it out again.

  “Not good,” he murmured to himself, alone with his pillows and candlelight and the still, sweet-scented air. “Soft and lazy. No good will come of it . . .”

  The Cold Crossing was a tradition with more than two hundred years behind it. There were many contradictory tales of how it began, back then when the Bloods were young, but all agreed on the name proudly borne by the victor of that first race: Hedrig the Fish. Every year a platter of solid silver was made and offered as prize, and every year it was decorated with leaping, darting fish. Three of the Crafts, and the Haig Thane himself, took turns to pay for the trophy’s making. Whoever’s coin had bought it, though, it was always known simply as Hedrig’s Plate.

  This year, it had been Gryvan oc Haig’s duty to provide the Plate. The Thane of Thanes had, inevitably, left the practicalities to his Chancellor. And Mordyn Jerain had, in turn, delegated the responsibility to his wife, passing on Gryvan’s sole instruction in the matter: the platter was to be the most dazzling, the most expensive, ever offered. Tara had taken him at his word. Tremannor, famously the best silversmith in Vaymouth, had spent months upon the task.

  Now, on the bleak day of the Crossing itself, Tara Jerain rode her finest bay mare in the wake of the wagon that bore the Plate, its guards, and Tremannor himself, towards the great wooden platform on the bank of the Vay. A dozen or more of her household were around her, and behind them several ranks of Vaymouth’s Guard. The Thane of Thanes himself was up ahead, leading the way. He wore his great crimson cloak on this day of spectacle, its radiant expanse spread over the haunches of the huge white horse that bore him. Cries of adulation, of formless excitement, accompanied his progress through the crowd.

  In the last half-century, the Crossing had become one of the events that gave Vaymouth’s year its shape and structure. It was a last, defiant expression of the city’s insatiable hunger for activity before the shorter days and colder nights of winter took a firm hold. During the week preceding it, a temporary town sprang up outside the city walls, on the northern bank of the Vay. Tents crowded along the fat brown river like a forest of mushrooms bulging up out of the earth. Horses and cattle were traded there, and furs of every kind and quality. Fishermen netted the river and sold their catch from stalls, even from their moored boats. Hot sweet wine was ladled out of great cauldrons. Despite the vagaries of the weather at this time of year, the event drew in folk from as far away as Drandar and the furthest reaches of the Nar Vay shores. In past years, many would even have come up from Dargannan-Haig lands to the south, but the ruin of that still leaderless Blood had rendered the roads to and from Hoke dangerous for travellers. They would, most likely, have been unwelcome guests this year, in any case.

  Tara had never liked the Cold Crossing. The crowds were too tumultuous, the mood too coarse and raucous, for her liking. Tonight, if recent Crossings were anything to go by, once the great and the powerful had returned to their palaces in the city there would be drunken fighting, grubby little deaths, amongst the stalls and tents of the huge encampment. The excitement of the day’s events, combined with the loss of hard-earned coin in foolish wagers and an inexhaustible supply of powerful drink, always seemed to culminate in such excess. For now, though, there was only merriment and feverish anticipation of what was to come.

  A flurry of children swirled by, shrieking in excitement and caught up in their own games. Tara watched them pass. She felt a momentary stirring of the normally dormant regret at her own childlessness. Twice, she had lost a child of Mordyn’s before its proper time. The losing of the second had almost killed her.

  After that, he had extracted a promise from her that there would be no further attempts. Such pain and fear and grief had possessed him then that she had given the promise almost willingly. On those rare occasions when she thought of taking it back, she closed her mind against the thought.

  The long wooden dais from which Vaymouth’s elite would watch the day’s events was already crowded. Gryvan oc Haig and Abeh, his wife, mounted its steps and were swallowed up by the admiring host. Tremannor and his apprentices carried the plate onto the platform to a chorus of admiring gasps and even scattered applause. Tara, happy on this occasion to remain largely unnoticed, followed with her attendants.

  The competitors – muscular young men one and all – were lined up on the short, muddy grass at the river’s edge. All were naked, save for coloured caps, and liberally smeared with goose fat that gave their pale skin a sticky white glaze. Some were shivering already, beset by the sharp wind that came up from the sea. The great expanse of the river before them was dark and choppy, speckled with little foamy wave crests. It seemed likely that the Vay would claim at least one or two victims this year, and that only fed the eagerness of the surging crowds. A line of Guards from the city, wielding clubs with impartial and indiscriminate enthusiasm, held back the mass of spectators.

  From amongst the crowd on the dais, the Craftmaster of the Vintners stepped forward. He opened a scroll and began to shout out the full list of competitors. Each name was greeted with a burst of noise, mingling exhortations to vigorous effort in the challenge to come and predictions of dismal failure. Once the Craftmaster had furled his scroll and retired, it was the turn of Gryvan oc Haig himself to come to the front of the platform. Kale, the High Thane’s chief shieldman, was at his shoulder, stony-faced. Tara could not remember ever seeing the man smile. He surveyed the crowd now, as he seemed to survey everything and everyone, with suspicious disdain.

  In one hand Gryvan carried a bright bronze gong, in the other a little iron hammer. There were cries for silence. The swimmers shuffled forward to the very edge of the river bank. Gryvan turned this way and that. He held the gong up, letting the vast assemblage of his people see it. The wind caught his cloak, setting it billowing. In such moments, Tara mused, the High Thane did have the look of a king. Gryvan beat the gong with the hammer, the crowd roared and the swimmers flung themselves into the turbid rushing waters of the Vay. The Cold Crossing had begun.

  As a long communal bellow of encouragement rose from the mass of spectators, serving girls brought beakers of wine and tiny pastries for the elite gathered on the High Thane’s dais. Tara Jerain tasted both carefully, with diligent attention, to arm herself with some harmless pleasantries about them for the small talk that was bound to ensue. Both were good, but neither were exceptional. She recognised the wine as a Nar Vay imitation of a finer original from the vineyards around Drandar.

  “Oh, look, one of them’s floundering already,” said one of the court ladies nearby, a ripple of mirth in her voice.

  One of the swimmers did indeed appear to be in difficulty. He had turned back before making even a quarter of the river’s breadth. Clearly labouring, outmatched by the chill of the water and the powerful current, he was the target of hundreds of abusive catcalls from the bank.

  “He’ll not be winning the favour of any girls tonight, with a performance like that,” Tara observed.

  Everyone laughed in agreement.

  As the luckless man hauled himself out onto the mud, several people threw food and pebbles at him.

  “Most mysterious to me, some of your traditions,” someone said at Tara’s elbow.

  She glanced around to find Alem T’anarch, the ambassador of the Dornach Kingship. He was a handsome man, but prone, like many Dornachmen, to an occasional haughtiness that made him difficult to warm to.

  “Not only to you,” Tara replied with a fleeting smile. She had no wish to appea
r rude or dismissive, but it would not be advantageous to be seen spending too long in conversation with this man, given the current mood of Gryvan’s court. Relations with the Kingship, never warm, had reached new lows once Gryvan found Dornach mercenaries fighting against him during Igryn’s rebellion. Tara knew the High Thane had only decided at the last moment that T’anarch should even be allowed to attend the Crossing.

  “Not good for swimming, I would have thought,” the man murmured. “These cold waters, I mean.”

  “Yes. I imagine you never have to put up with such chilly amusements in the Kingship.”

  “Oh, it can be cold, my lady. In Evaness, in midwinter, I have seen snow.”

  Tara nodded, content to let matters rest there. She had said enough to appear cordial, not enough to attract the attention of any observers. The ambassador was, however, gently persistent.

  “A pity that he cannot be here, your husband. Must be even colder in the north.”

  “It probably is,” Tara agreed. She was careful not to let her irritation show. Alem T’anarch was an intelligent, capable man. He must know perfectly well that no one of any consequence would want to be seen enjoying his company while he stood in such ill favour with the High Thane. “Perhaps you should ask one of the servants to find you some warmed wine, Ambassador, if our weather is displeasing you.”

  “No need. Have you heard when the Chancellor will be returning, tell me? I have asked, but cannot find an answer.”

  A flurry of shouts drew Tara’s attention back to the river. Halfway across the leaden mass of the Vay, amidst the crowd of flailing arms and backs, it appeared that another of the swimmers was being overcome by the current and the cold. A single pale shape was parted from the rest, carried off downstream. The man’s yellow-capped head bobbed in and out of sight; at this distance there was no way of telling whether he was being pulled under or whether it was only the waves obscuring him. Further down the bank a little boat had been launched, two burly men hauling at their oars in an effort to reach the swimmer. On the basis of past experience there was a good chance they would not succeed.

  Sometimes the bodies were never found.

  “I ask only because his voice would be valuable now, I think,” Alem said. “He is missed. Wise heads are, in times of difficulty.”

  Tara had always been steadfast in distancing herself from the kind of matters that absorbed Mordyn’s attention. She worked in a different arena, collecting – sometimes shaping – gossip, making gifts to good causes, cultivating the company of merchants, musicians and craftsmen. Except on those rare occasions when her husband felt it useful, such as her recent audience with the Craftmaster of the Goldsmiths, she stayed out of the dealings of Thanes. This Dornachman knew that. Why, then, seek to interest her in his only too well-known troubles?

  “I am sure my husband will return soon,” she said, smiling. “I do not follow such things closely, of course, but by all accounts it will not take long to settle matters with the Black Road.”

  Alem T’anarch gave a little nod of his elegant head.

  “Time is ever the heart of things. And war, or threat of it. A shame, that such violence should be required in the north. It is never the desire of the wise, violence. I hope, at least. Not when there are ways of avoiding it.”

  “Indeed,” Tara said. She took a small, decisive step away. “Excuse me, Ambassador. I must have a few words with Abeh oc Haig. I promised to provide some musicians for her gathering at the White Palace tonight.”

  “Of course. Mention my interest to your husband, if it please you. Should you send him a message. Tell him I hope the Thane of Thanes will benefit from his counsel once more, soon.”

  Tara frowned a little as she worked her way through the throng towards Gryvan’s wife. She was annoyed with Alem T’anarch, but concerned too at the implication of his words. The Dornach ambassador was evidently a troubled man. That he should try to involve her in solving his troubles had more than a whiff of desperation about it. Perhaps he feared an irreparable breach between his masters in Evaness and the Haig Bloods. It would be no surprise: Mordyn had told Tara more than once that there would be war between Dornach and Haig in their lifetimes. As far as she was aware, though, that confrontation was supposed to be some time off yet. Perhaps in her husband’s absence Gryvan oc Haig was allowing his contempt for the Kingship to run away with him.

  Abeh oc Haig was an avid spectator of the Crossing. Her maids had cleared a space in front of her to ensure an unobstructed view. The High Thane’s wife did not even glance round as Tara came up at her side.

  “Can you see who is winning?” Tara asked, managing to feign at least a little interest.

  “Not really. Three or four of them seem to have left the others behind, though.”

  “Perhaps there will be a contest to the end this year, at least,” Tara murmured. Last year, one young man had so easily outpaced all the others – including the youth who had been confidently expected, and heavily backed, to win – that there had been a general sense of disappointment, not to mention suspicion.

  “We may hope so,” Abeh agreed. “Did Alem T’anarch tell you who he favoured for the race?”

  “No, my lady. He didn’t. I imagine the Ambassador’s favour would sink any swimmer it was attached to, in any case.”

  Abeh gave a girlish laugh. “Well said. He spreads gloom wherever he goes, these days. Oh, look. There goes another one.”

  One of the swimmers was drifting. He was fortunate: a rowboat hovered only a short way downstream, and the current looked set to carry him onto its prow.

  “The Plate’s impressive,” Abeh observed. “You chose well, in picking Tremannor for the task.”

  “I am glad you approve.”

  “I was discussing it with the High Thane last night. We thought perhaps you could speak to Tremannor –

  tonight, or tomorrow, as you see fit – and convey our gratitude to him once again. And express to him our hope, our expectation, that now that he has reached this pinnacle of his art, he will not find it appropriate to accept any commission to make the Plate for future Crossings.”

  “Of course.” Tara dipped her head a fraction to signify acceptance of the task. “Though it will be the High Thane’s task to provide Hedrig’s Plate once again, in four years’ time. Perhaps I should suggest that Tremannor refuse any such commission for . . . three years?”

  Abeh grunted in dry amusement. “If you wish. We are thinking of using him to make a gift for the new Kilkry Thane, in any case. A chain, we thought, to wear about his midriff.”

  “By all accounts, Roaric oc Kilkry-Haig would not fully appreciate the artistry of one such as Tremannor,” Tara said.

  “Of course not. The man probably wouldn’t know the difference between a pebble and a ruby if they were both set down before him. But that’s not the point.”

  “No.” Tara hesitated, then decided to venture onto trickier ground. “Extraordinary, don’t you think, the way they managed to reach old Lheanor? Right there, at a feast in his own Tower, by all accounts. I heard the woman even poisoned half the kitchen staff, to get herself next to the Thane.”

  Abeh wrinkled her nose in distaste, and gave a little sniff. Talk of death, talk of anything of any consequence, would only spoil her immersion in this lively, light day. But Tara knew that Abeh, Gryvan, all of them, had been shaken by Lheanor’s death. No one had thought the Black Road could hide so deeply, and for so long, so close to the heart of a Blood. As soon as the grim story reached Vaymouth, purges amongst the staff of every palace in the city had begun. Maids and cooks and grooms who had given good service for years had been turned out onto the street, or worse, for want of a convincing answer to some question, or a suitably loyal, submissive expression on their face.

  What Tara feared was not betrayal within the walls of her own palace, though. No, what left her feeling as if she lived now beneath a constant shadow was the knowledge that her husband was there, in the north where Thanes were dying, and tra
itors were lurking. To lose Mordyn would be more than she could bear. It would be to lose the best reason she had – had ever had – to wake in the morning. And there was nothing she could do to ensure his safe return; only wait, and hope, and dream of the day when this fear would be lifted and he would be with her again.

  “They’re almost there,” cried Abeh in a burst of excitement.

  Way out across the river, the pale shapes of the swimmers were just visible, labouring through waves. It made Tara think of debris, on the sea. They were almost at the far bank. It was impossible to say who was in the lead, but to judge by the cheers rising from the small crowd gathered over there it was a close race this year. The wind had strengthened and was peeling spray off the crests of the waves, blasting it downriver. The bobbing, multicoloured heads of the swimmers came and went, obscured and revealed.

  Even the rowers in the longboat that waited to bring the winner back and present him to the High Thane, so that he could kneel and have the Plate pressed into his hands, and hear the adulation of the masses, even those rowers and steersmen were on their feet, shouting encouragement. And all Tara Jerain could think was, Oh, what does it matter? Don’t you know that more important things than this are happening?

  Darker things. Things that could yet put cracks into this bright, glittering, empty delight.

  V

  He breathed, and the air was rough and jagged in his throat. He blinked, and the light sent splinters of pain back into the hollow cavity of his skull. He lifted a hand, and his arm felt distant, as if it belonged to someone else. Mordyn Jerain, the Shadowhand, came slowly back to himself.

  There was a pillow under his head, a coarse linen sheet beneath his fingertips. He could hear someone moving, soft shoes on stone. His eyes no longer wanted to open. His head ached.

  “I am thirsty,” he managed to say.

  “Wain, pour some water from that jug,” someone – a man – said, in a voice so smooth, so richly contoured that it made Mordyn think of flowing honey.